


Thanks for the Memories

by DaSly fics (i_write_hurt_not_comfort)



Category: Pandora Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Coming Out, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Drinking, F/M, IT'S VERY SAD, M/M, Mentions of Rape, Prom, Smoking, a coming out scene, fic swap, look at me, posting something not depressing as hell, prom au, shhhhhh, yes theres still smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 21:13:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15827052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_write_hurt_not_comfort/pseuds/DaSly%20fics
Summary: Their last exam is done, which only means one thing: prom.Prom, and... all the dramas that come with it.





	Thanks for the Memories

**Author's Note:**

  * For [x3_NaWnOmSchnuff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/x3_NaWnOmSchnuff/gifts).



> I would like to thank Jack (@nawnomschnuff) for allowing this to be our 6th fic swap. I've had this planned for too long and thank fuck I've written it now. Also, yes, i basically copied the entire coming out scene from s2e1 of Andi Mack because it's a fucking beautiful scene.  
> Content warnings: swearing, mentions of rape, a very drunk Leo, and an excessively sad coming out scene  
> Enjoy!!!
> 
> (disclaimer: i do not own Pandora Hearts)

_Say a prayer, but let the good times roll  
In case God doesn’t show._

* * *

“Gil! Giiiilllllllll!”

It took less than a second for Oz to come running down the street, past the school gates and towards the bus stop, where Break and Gilbert were currently waiting. Within a couple of seconds of appearing, the blonde had reached them, the same beaming smile still stuck on his lips, as per usual.

“I see someone is excited~” Break teased, sticking his hands in his pockets underneath the flaps of his untucked shirt. “Say, can I take a wild guess that it’s about the prom tomorrow night?”

Oz immediately found himself bushing slightly, his smile fading and forming a sulky, almost childish pout. “Well, yeah…”

“Don’t be mean,” Gilbert muttered, glaring at Break as he planted a hand on Oz’s head and ruffled his hair playfully. Turning his head away from the two momentarily, he took a quick drag from the cigarette in his right hand, exhaling the smoke away from them. “It’s our first prom, right?”

“Yeah, don’t be so mean Break!” Oz accused, pointing a finger up at him.

“Ah, apologies, apologies,” Break hummed. “Sharon has compared me to an old man, after all.”

“Ooh! Speaking of Sharon…” A devious, suggestive smirk tugged at Oz’s lips, one which perfectly resembled his Uncle, Oscar. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, after all. “Have either of you got dates yet?”

“Cheeky one, aren’t we?” Break teased. “But no, neither of us have, I’m afraid. We’ll be the bachelors of the night, right, Gilbert~?”

“S-sure…” Gilbert agreed, begrudgingly. It wasn’t like he hadn’t _tried_ to get a date – he just hadn’t found anyone he particularly wanted to go with. As long as his friends were there, it didn’t really matter; albeit his friend list did only extend to Oz and not many others.

“What, Break?! You’re not going with Sharon?!” Oz almost gasped, far too dramatically. “Why not?!”

“Sharon is going with Reim,” Break answered, a strange and uncharacteristic sense of sincerity to his words.

“No way!” Oz gaped in disbelief again. “Are you serious?!”

“Mhm,” Break nodded.

“Arghh…! I was gonna ask Sharon to prom!” Oz whined, his arms flopping down to his sides. “But Break… are you happy for them? Aren’t you jealous?”

“You really are cheeky, aren’t you?” Break snickered, ruffling Oz’s hair laughingly. “Don’t you believe me? I’m happy for them. I only want the best for Sharon, and Reim, of course~”

“So, Oz, who else are you going to ask?” Gilbert question curiously, as he took another drag of the cigarette and turned his head once again to exhale the smoke, away from Oz.

“Well… I was thinking of asking Alice?” The blonde couldn’t stop himself from blushing slightly. “Do you know where she is right now?”

“Sharon is waiting for her, I heard~” Break explained. “Oh! Here comes Reim, away from his new date, mhm~”

Gilbert shook his head and murmured under his breath: “Why on earth would you _willingly_ go with that nutcase…?”

“Hey! Reim!” Oz called after him, waving an arm to grab his attention, which was no doubt grabbed a moment later. “Did you get the limo sorted out?”

Immediately, Reim’s eyebrow twitched, as he pulled his glasses off his face and frantically cleaned them. Then, wordlessly – once he could see through the lenses again – he retrieved a screwed up, torn piece of paper from the inside pocket of his blazer, unfolding it and holding it up. “Elliot and Leo dropped out, but other than that, yes. But we preferably need two more people now.”

“Aw, why?!” Oz complained, “I wanted to see Elliot!”

“You know~” Break interjected, his words taking on the usual bounce of playfulness. “I heard a little rumour that Elliot and Leo were going _together_ ~”

“What?!” Oz gasped dramatically, his expression totally flabbergasted. “No way!! But they’re not… like… arghhh!”

“Not gay, you meant?” Break grinned, “You might be surprised, Oz~” His smirked widened seismically. “People can hide a lot more than you think in the closet, mhm~”

“Wha…?” Oz’s mouth dropped open.

“Xerx, with all respect…” Reim exhaled. “I don’t think that’s true.”

“Yeah, I know Elliot, and he’s not gay,” Gilbert added, as he flicked aside the butt of the cigarette. “Whoever you heard that from, they lied.”

Break pouted. “Talk about jumping to conclusions… you shouldn’t make such assumption, hm~”

That, for some reason, sent the group into an awkward silence.

That was, until Ada – Oz’s sister – came bouncing up to them, with excitement in every step.

“Ah, Ada!” Oz greeted, the beaming smile returning to his face. “How was your-“

“Vincent asked me to prom!” she squealed before Oz even got to finish his sentence, her eyes sparkling as she spoke. “Can you believe that?! Vincent is my date!”

“Er, that’s great, Ada!” Oz tried to seem excited, but the sidelong gaze of concern he occasionally shot at Gilbert and Break, as Ada engulfed him in a hug, said it all. “Wait… Reim! Can Ada and Vincent come in the limo with us?! You said you needed two more people!”

Right before Reim rejected him, it became abundantly clear that Oz didn’t want to leave Ada alone with _Vincent._ Frantically, he began scrubbing his glasses again. “I suppose, but… they need to get the money to me by tomorrow.”

“Thank you!” Ada smiled warmly at him. Her gaze soon shifted from Reim to slightly behind him. “Ahh, look! It’s Vincent!”

Gilbert mentally facepalmed. “Vincent…”

The same sinister grin tugged at Vincent’s lips, as he completely ignored Ada and went to stand beside his brother instead. “Ah, Gil.”

“Why the hell did you ask _Ada_ to prom?!” Gilbert yelped, averting his eyes to the bus thankfully approaching them. “I-I mean… she just… doesn’t really seem like your type.”

Vincent chuckled, feigning innocence but really just seeming even guiltier. “I thought I’d change things up a little bit. Besides, I happened to remember that Oz and Ada’s uncle hates me, and I wanted to annoy him a little.”

“Tch, damn sewer rat…” Break muttered under his breath, following Reim onto the bus.

“You’re lucky he didn’t hear that,” Reim whispered, furrowing his eyebrows. “You don’t want to get on his bad side.”

“I think it’s too late for that, my dear friend~” Break snickered, but didn’t seem particularly amused, as he dropped down onto one of the seats. Sulkily, he stared at his reflection in the window, dragging his fingers through the roots of his hair. “Hm… I need to re-dye it…”

“Xerx, you know I hate it when you bleach your hair,” Reim sighed.

Wordlessly, Break pouted at him, and tilted his head to rest on the window.

Meanwhile, in front of them (and only as expected), Vincent sat right next to Gilbert, their shoulders touching. And Gilbert seemed nothing short of uncomfortable, to put it bluntly.

“Oh, and…” Vincent smirked, deviance woven into his words. “To _honestly_ answer your question… I only really want to defile her.”

Gilbert froze. He could now see why Oz _didn’t_ want to leave the two alone.

* * *

“... and _that’s_ how I got her pregnant.”

Oswald blinked, stared at the other – Levi – questioningly, and hesitantly took a drag from the cigarette in his hand. “I didn’t need to know all the detail.”

“Sure ya did,” Levi grinned and drew on his own cigarette. “Where’s Jack?”

“Detention,” Oswald scowled bitterly at the mere thought of him. “He didn’t show up to yesterday’s exam.”

“Our last exam tomorrow…” Levi murmured idly, flicking the ash off his cigarette as he pulled it away from his lips behind a cloud of smoke. “When is it?”

“Morning.”

“Ah. Right,” Levi said. He glanced up, staring at the two girls ahead and tossing aside the burnt-out cigarette. “Those two have entered full-on girl mode.”

Ahead of them were Lottie and Lacie, who’d been best friends since the beginning of school. Lacie was Oswald’s younger sister – younger by 9 months – and also Jack’s girlfriend; which Oswald had never and would never approve of.

“After-prom is at yours, isn’t it?” Oswald said, partially to himself at first, and then redirected his stoic-as-always gaze to Levi. “Jack’s going?”

“Of course,” Levi scoffed. “He’s Lacie’s date.”

“Hm.”

“Just let them be. You should get a date as well.”

It was only then that Oswald remembered that Levi had asked Lottie to be his date. Considering they already had a friends-with-benefits kind of relationship, it wasn’t much of a surprise anyway.

“So yeah,” Levi started again. “The girl I got pregnant…-“

* * *

The day of prom came around much sooner than they’d anticipated, their last exam brushing past them like a breeze.

After that – as he’d said he would – Oz had gone straight up to Alice, and nervously asked if she’d go to prom with him as his date. And, not surprisingly, the responses he received were a mix of “what’s that, can I eat it?”, and “I thought I was going with you anyway.” So, needless to say, that process was made strangely easy by how clueless she was.

His group – which consisted of him, Gilbert, Reim, Break, Vincent, Alice, Sharon, Ada – were having pre-prom at Gilbert and Vincent’s house. It made sense on many levels, ranging from the fact their parents worked a lot, _and_ the fact that none of them trusted Vincent alone with Ada.

Currently, and rather traditionally, the guys were separated from the girls, who had taken up a majority of the lounge. That left them with Gilbert’s room, since Vincent’s room was… well, untouchable.

“Is Rufus not coming?” Oz asked, brushing his gel-coated fingers through the front few strands of his hair, trying to position them but not succeeding too well. “I thought you said he demanded you to let him.”

“He did…” Reim muttered, first adjusting his glasses briefly and then continuing with his tie. “But then I think he decided to follow Sheryl, instead.”

“Ahhh, that’s Sharon’s cousin, right?”

“Uh, yes,” Reim answered, seemingly reluctant to acknowledge it. “Has anyone seen Break? I’d like to ask him some things about Sharon. He… knows her better than me.”

“He’s still bleaching his hair,” Gilbert answered with an audible huff. “If he gets dye in my bathroom, I swear…”

“Don’t worry, Gil,” Vincent smiled sinisterly as usual. “If he upsets you, I’ll make sure he gets the proper treatment.”

“Uh, right…”

“Hey, Vincent…” Oz started tentatively, capturing the others attention. He swallowed thickly, and drew in a deep breath; the way Vincent stared at him always made him shudder. “Why _did_ you ask my sister to prom?”

Gilbert held his breath, and prayed that Vincent didn’t give the real reason.

“She’s an interesting woman,” Vincent grinned, but there was something not very genuine about it.

“Can’t see why she’d say yes to you then…”

The moment they heard Break’s voice, everyone fell silent, just waiting for Vincent to slaughter him. Reim halted at Break with a look which bluntly said _‘Xerx, why would you say that?’,_ but he didn’t seem overly bothered. He only really seemed interested in himself, standing in front of the mirror with the straightener and staring at it, clueless.

“I don’t see _you_ with a date,” Vincent said. “Oh, and… to tell the truth… her breasts are rather _desirable_.”

Gilbert paused, and then shrugged.

“Seconded~” Break added. Then, with a teasingly pleading glance, he turned to Reim, and held the straightener and brush out to him.

With a roll of the eyes, Reim gave in, and wandered over the Break to start doing his hair.

“Wait…” Oz couldn’t help but blush. “Do you guys all stare at Ada’s chest all the time?!”

Simultaneously, Vincent, Gilbert and Break nodded.

“Arghhhh!” Oz facepalmed. “Well at least she’s with supportive friends with now, at least…”

* * *

Theirs wasn’t the only pre-prom going on in that area.

Only a few streets away from them, in the much higher end of town, was Levi, Oswald, Jack, Lacie and Lottie, all gathered in Levi’s bedroom.

“So, Lottie~” Lacie grinned, standing beside the other in front of the mirror with the hair curler in her grip. Her clothes right now were minimal – much like Lottie’s – with nothing but promiscuous lingerie and lace kimonos. “Are you planning to get lucky at after-prom tonight?”

“Aha, of course~” Lottie hummed, smirking to the girl beside her. “Maybe not _only_ with Levi, fufu~”

“Hmm, yeah,” Lacie seemed unimpressed. “He won’t stay loyal to _you,_ I’ll tell you that, right, Oswald?”

“What?” Oswald glanced up from his book, as if he’d only just started listening. He probably had, having been seated on the window sill, ready, and dressed, for the past hour.

“Levi, a whore.”

“Oh. Yeah.”

“Told you,” Lacie clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “Hey, Jack?”

The moment his name was called, Jack perked up. “Yes Lacie?”

“Where did Levi go again?” she asked, placing down the hair curler and grabbing the hairspray from the unused dressing table. “I want to know how much longer I can slag him off for.”

“Oh, he… just went to get something.”

“Fine,” she sighed, and then turned back to Jack. “Hey, Jack, do you mind bringing over my dress?”

The dress, hung up beside Lottie’s on the wardrobe handle, was nothing short of stunning. A dark but rich purple colour all over, the halter neck was decorated with jewels, diamonds of different shapes intricately positioned along the waist as well. There was a slit at the thigh, and a gap for most of her back.

Lottie’s dress was much more simple: a black sleeveless bodycon mini dress with a promiscuous shape and an incredibly low neckline, with a few sparkles here and there. Her shoes, worth over a hundred, were the same pink as her hair, covered with jewels the same colour as her necklace, also worth a small fortune.

“I’m back!” Levi announced as he barged into the room without warning. “Our limousine is here, by the way. I told it to get here early. My parents will pay for that.”

“What did you get~?” Lottie asked, still curling her hair with such precision.

“New cigarettes,” Levi shook the pack matter-of-factly, and proceeded to the dressing table.

“What’s the point?” Oswald piped up from the window. Apparently he _was_ engaged in the conversation after all. At least partially.

“ _Yves Saint Laurent_ ,” Levi stated simply, slipping out one of the pristine white cigarettes from the box and placing it between his lips. “Designer. The same brand as my suit, tie, shoes, and… literally everything else in this room right now.”

“... right,” Oswald didn’t seem particularly convinced, even more so when Levi actually lit the cigarette, drew on it, and then placed it in the ashtray and continued working on his hair.

“Levi~? Do you mind passing me the styling spray?”

Levi grinned, picking up the cigarette and bottle, and somehow seeing this as the perfect opportunity to get started on their _later_ activities.

“And what exactly have you done to deserve that?”

“I haven’t done anything _yet_ ~” she purred, pressing her body up to his the moment he closed the gap between them. “I can give you plenty later though~”

Levi let out a low, seductive chuckle as he leant down, one hand turning her jawline towards his. Softly, he placed his lips onto hers, instantly sliding his tongue into her mouth, battling for dominance.

From the side of the room, Oswald facepalmed, his eyes panning the room only to find Jack and Lacie making out too. With an annoyed, inaudible sigh, he slipped a cigarette out of his pocket, lighting it with one hand.

How the _hell_ was he supposed to get through an entire night of _this_?

* * *

“Alice! Wait!”

Sure enough, the moment they pulled up in the front of the venue, Alice had taken off. There was a barbecue, after all; the smell of meat was nothing short of prominent.

“Oz, you deserved better than her…” Gilbert sighed, trying to shake Vincent off his arm.

“She looks cute,” Oz said, a blush spreading across his cheeks.

Following him out the limousine was Break, abruptly appearing behind the blonde. “Is that a crush I sense~?”

“Wah! Break!” Oz jumped, turning around with a twitch in his eyebrow. “You’ve really gotta quit doing that…”

“Fufu, speaking of crushes~” Break snickered, and vaguely pointed ahead of them.

It was difficult to see what he meant through all the people, but in the corner of the garden, there were two people, far too familiar to them: none other than Elliot and Leo.

Elliot wore black trousers, a black shirt, and a white blazer, whereas Leo wore the same black trousers, a white shirt, and a black blazer. Their fingers laced together, the assumed-couple seemed to be posing for the photographer. Uncharacteristic, considering no one even knew they were going out.

A few moments later, Oz and Elliot crossed gazes, and Elliot’s curious gaze turned to a bitter glare. Oz shifted, and waited where he was as they stormed over.

“I-It’s not what it looks like!” Elliot yelped defensively, before he even reached them.

“So… what exactly is it?” Oz asked, laughing nervously.

“Just, tch…” Elliot failed to pry Leo’s fingers away from his forearm. “Ok it’s exactly what it looks like, just… don’t make a big deal of it!”

“Aha, Elliot~” Break shook his head tragically, avoiding eye contact with Elliot despite speaking directly to him. “I believe _you’re_ the only one making this a big deal.”

“He’s right,” Leo chuckled, swaying slightly as he nestled his head closer to Elliot.

“Ah… is Leo alright?” Oz questioned.

“He’s… been drinking,” Elliot answered reluctantly. “His foster brother bought him an excessive of alcohol for pre-prom, so he’s… drunk, basically.”

“Hehe,” Leo giggled, and it became inherently obvious that he was, in fact, very drunk. “Elliot,” He drew our every syllable of his name. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Not now…” Elliot said through gritted teeth.

“Later?” Leo only seemed more amused. Snickering to himself again, he leaned up closer to Elliot, bringing two fingers up and grinning. “Won’t you be two distracted by _this_?”

When Leo brought up a third finger, Elliot shrieked. “Leo! W-What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“Shh, Elliot. You need to save your screaming for later.”

“Tch, just…” Elliot rolled his eyes and tried to facepalm the blush away. “Let’s go. You and I need to talk.”

“Ahhh, no!” Leo whined, barely able to walk and he staggered away behind Elliot. “Talking is boring… why can’t we-“

“Don’t even _think_ about finishing that sentence.”

“Ah…” Oz muttered as the two walked away. “They’re… an interesting couple.”

“So Elliot is… gay…” Gilbert seemed unable to get his head around the concept. “I guess you were right, Break…”

“Waaah, you were!” Oz’s eyes were sparkling. Jokingly, with a slight smirk, he added: “So would you be on Elliot’s wavelength then, if you know what I mean?”

“Fufu, you really _are_ cheeky, aren’t you~?” Break chuckled, and then spun around to Reim before Oz could carry on that conversation any further. “Reim, shall we go and get the ladies some drinks?”

“I’m sure that can wait…” Reim said.

“Not if you don’t want Levi or Vincent spiking them,” Break shot a sidelong glare at the blonde. “I saw the vodka you brought.”

Vincent smiled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Break sighed exaggeratingly, and the piercing glare he received from Vincent made even Reim panic.

As expected, this would be a long, _difficult_ night.

* * *

The time had finally come for the last song of the night, pairs coupling up in their haste to get to the dance floor, where lights illuminated the floor with fluorescent colours.

To no surprise, the first noticeable pair to make it to the centre of the room was Levi and Lottie – they’d won Prom King and Queen, after all. Following them was Jack and Lacie, both stood intentionally bang in the centre of Oswald’s line of view. It irked him, sure, but he wasn’t exactly going to stop them. Not looking was a much easier solution.

Huddling in the corner of the dance floor was Oz’s group, following his lead as he took Alice’s hand in his – despite her clueless blushing – and guided her towards the centre of the room. Along with him was soon Vincent and Ada, mainly on Ada’s prompting, and Reim and Sharon. Even Elliot and Leo appeared beside them, their fingers laced together despite the prying gazes watching them. People clearly hadn’t gotten over the first gay couple of prom yet.

Elliot still appeared to be embarrassed by the staring, and the fact that Leo had shown up drunk and was now beyond wasted didn’t help, since he’d apparently lost all sense of personal space.

That only left two people, once Rufus had taken off to watch Sheryl, at least: Gilbert, and Break.

Something was off about the latter, however. And Gilbert didn’t dare to miss it.

He seemed distracted, to say the least, his single gaze alternating between the floor and the dance floor. Then, after only 20 seconds or so of this, something clicked.

“Break?” Gilbert said subtly, unwilling to kill the moment for anyone else.

“I’m…” Break started weakly in response, his words faltering as a rather frustrated expression conveying inner turmoil developed on his face. “Ghg… I need some air.”

Gilbert’s mouth dropped open, questions of what he meant or where he was going rested on his tongue, ready to be asked. But before he could utter a single word, Break took off, storming off in silence towards the back doors of the venue.

Unsure of what to do next, Gilbert really did hope that Oz had seen that, turning his focus to the blonde – not too far from him – and sending a rather frantic glance his way.

As if on cue, Oz saw him. Questionably, he gestured to the door; that was enough confirmation that he’d seen what had happened.

 _“Go talk to him,”_ Oz mouthed across the room, and Gilbert didn’t really feel like he had a choice in the matter.

Reluctantly, he sauntered in the exact direction which Break had taken off in, laying a hand on the door handle. Then, unable to be seen by the rest of the room, he slipped the door open, sliding through the gap before closing it behind him.

Outside held a completely different atmosphere than inside. It seemed dead, the lingering silence doing nothing to help that. There was little out there, spare a couple of tables, a shrubbery, and a couple of benches tucked away behind the back wall.

On one of those benches was exactly who Gilbert had been searching for.

“You didn’t have to follow me out here, you know,” Break pointed out. He tried so desperately to add the same, mocking touch to his words as usual, but just couldn’t. His gaze never once averting from the horizon in the distance for even a fraction of a second, he added: “What are you doing here? What, don’t tell me _Oz_ sent you here, of all people? Haah… kids these days… so persistent.” He pouted.

Gilbert froze, fiddling with the rim of his coat before retrieving a cigarette and lighter from the inside pocket of his blazer. Both items held in the palm of his hand, he slowly approached Break on the bench, once again not breaking him from his trance as he stepped around him and seated himself on the bench. “T-That… could be _part_ of it…” he answered finally, dragging his fingers through his black locks with a nervous exhale, unsure of when to light the cigarette. “Plus I… well… I haven’t been out for, you know…” Gilbert held up the cigarette. “... since prom started, so…”

“Ah, I see…” Break hummed in acknowledgement. A sad smile donning his lips, he commented humorously: “Hah, I still can’t believe you fell for it and started because of _me_.”

Gilbert tried to ignore that as he stuck the cigarette between his lips, lit up for that much needed nicotine fix, and shot a weak sidelong glare at Break.

Taking a second deep drag from the cigarette and exhaling, Gilbert finally decided to ask him the question which sat on the tip of his tongue. “Why did you suddenly leave?”

Break, his distant gaze reminding on the horizon, stayed completely straight faced, and answered Gilbert’s question in a tone which the raven just could not decipher. “No reason.”

“I don’t believe you,” Gilbert narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. But then, a few moments later, his glare softened. “Break… are you okay?”

It took nearly 20 seconds for Gilbert to see any kind of _movement_ from the other – let alone a response – but when he did, it came in the form of an intentionally discreet, barely noticeable lower and shake of the head from the other.

“Why?” Gilbert said, exhaling a thin stream of smoke away from where they sat. “Did… something happen?”

Dropping his single visible eye to the floor, Break couldn’t help but let the regretful grin tug at the corners of his lips, as he chuckled quietly to his tragic self. There was a slight nod of the head upwards. “I can’t believe I’m… talking about this with _you_ , of all people…” he said, softly snorting in derision again. Then, he tilted his head upwards towards the cloud-shrouded sky, scanning across the layer of blackness in idle search for a star; any distraction would do. But as he surrendered to the realisation that there was no escaping the truth, Break finally continued, overlapping the comfortably awkward silence once again. “Remember a couple of days ago, when we were outside the school, waiting for the bus… and Oz asked me if I were happy… for Sharon and… Reim?”

Gilbert nodded slowly. “Yeah…”

“Of course I said _yes,_ ” Break said, somewhat defensively. “They’re my best friends. Of course I’m happy for them, but… I’m also… not happy…”

“Break…” Gilbert wasn’t sure if it was _too_ obvious or not. Should he have noticed this _sooner_? “Are you… jealous?”

Fingers still trembling, his lower lip almost quivering, Break lowered his head. It was slight, once again, but the avoidance of eye contact and awkward feet shuffle reinforced Gilbert’s suspicions.

Then he nodded. Gilbert almost felt _relieved._

Jealously. Yes, he could handle this. This was simple.

“Break…” he said again, less sincerely this time, taking a quick hit from the cigarette in between breaths. “Do you like Sharon?”

Break visibly froze. And then, subtly, he shook his head. It was so subtle that, unless you were watching him, you wouldn’t see it. It was sheepish, almost; like he absolutely did not _want_ to admit that he _wasn’t_ jealous of-

Suddenly, it clicked.

“You…” Gilbert felt his own hands begin to tremble, a light pounding sensation building in his chest. “You like… Reim…”

At that, Break cracked. His last emotional wall crumbling, a single tear escaped his right eye.

And he nodded.

Then, he sniffed, and laughed. Laughed at himself, almost.

Gilbert realised this wasn’t _quite_ as simple as your average jealousy.

Because Break was gay, and he’d just… come out?

“I feel stupid,” Break whispered, trying to rid the tears from himself. It was pointless, when every hitched breath he drew in only led to more tears. “And… different.”

“Break, you’ve always been stupid, and… really, _really_ weird…” Gilbert said, cracking a smile. “But… being gay doesn’t make you any _different_.”

Break fell silent at that comment, sniffing one last time before finally stopping the stream of tears.

“Do you… want to go back inside now?” Gilbert asked, as he dropped the nearly-finished cigarette and ground it out with the heel of his foot.

“No,” Break said sheepishly, that same regretful smile tugging back at his lips. “It’s… difficult to look at _them._ ”

“That’s… understandable,” Gilbert muttered.

“Ah, never mind~” Break stood up abruptly, brushing his suit off and turning towards the door. “I can’t avoid him forever. Hopefully I’ll get over it.”

Gilbert nodded, grateful that the old Break was still there – despite how annoying he was.

“Oh, and, Break?”

“Hm?”

“How… _did_ you know that Elliot and Leo were going out?”

Break stopped dead in his tracks. With one hand on the door handle, he snickered, and turned around to whisper directly into Gilbert’s ear.

And then he answered.

“I found Leo’s Grindr, of course~”

* * *

Sure enough, once the last song had finished, the crowd dissipated, and the flood of people began dispersing outside.

Two of the first to leave had been Elliot and Leo, heading towards the small garden at the back of the venue.

The moment they got there, Leo turned on his heel, and spun around to face Elliot. He wavered slightly, but still managed to hold out an expectant hand.

With a roll of the eyes, Elliot sighed, and stuck a hand in his pocket. After digging around for a few seconds, he pulled out a single cigarette, and a lighter, placing the two items in Leo’s hand.

Elliot failed to tear his eyes away from Leo as he stuck the cigarette between his lips, and lifted the flame of the lighter up to the tip. Once he’d taken the first drag, Leo pulled the stick away from his mouth, along with a cloud of smoke, and retrieved a flask from the inside pocket of his blazer.

“What the hell is that?” Elliot scoffed, averting his gaze to the smoke rising in plumes from the cigarette, rather than watching intently as the other’s lips curl around the rim of the flask.

Leo didn’t respond until he’d taken a rather large gulp of the liquid, and then another inhale of smoke. “Vodka.”

“Great,” Elliot huffed. “First you were gay, then you started smoking, and now you’re a borderline alcoholic, as well. Is there anything else I don’t know about?!”

“Hm…” Leo hummed in deliberation, and Elliot realised he should’ve made it clearer that his question was rhetorical.

“Oh. Have I told you about the Grindr?”

_Fin._

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! be sure to drop me your thoughts!!


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